Book name not found: Numbers for the version: 1550 Stephanus New Testament.

Numbers 3

New King James Version

The Sons of Aaron^(A)

3 Now these are the ^(B)records^[a] of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the ^(C)firstborn, and ^(D)Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ^(E)the anointed priests, ^[b]whom he consecrated to minister as priests. ⁴^(F)Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁶^(G)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. ⁷And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do ^(H)the work of the tabernacle. ⁸Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁹And ^(I)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to ^[c]him from among the children of Israel. ¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, ^(J)and they shall attend to their priesthood; ^(K)but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹²“Now behold, ^(L)I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be ^(M)Mine, ¹³because ^(N)all the firstborn are Mine. ^(O)On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”

Census of the Levites Commanded^(P)

¹⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: ¹⁵“Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number ^(Q)every male from a month old and above.”

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the ^[d]word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷^(R)These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of ^(S)Gershon by their families: ^(T)Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of ^(U)Kohath by their families: ^(V)Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰^(W)And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.

²¹From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. ²²Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above—of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. ²³^(X)The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward. ²⁴And the leader of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. ²⁵^(Y)The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included ^(Z)the tabernacle, ^(AA)the tent with ^(AB)its covering, ^(AC)the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ²⁶^(AD)the screen for the door of the court, ^(AE)the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^(AF)their cords, according to all the work relating to them.

²⁷^(AG)From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand ^[e]six hundred ^[f]keeping charge of the sanctuary. ²⁹^(AH)The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of ^(AI)Uzziel. ³¹^(AJ)Their duty included ^(AK)the ark, ^(AL)the table, ^(AM)the lampstand, ^(AN)the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, ^(AO)the screen, and all the work relating to them.

³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.

³³From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. ³⁴And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred. ³⁵The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. ^(AP)These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶And ^(AQ)the appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, ³⁷and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.

³⁸^(AR)Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, ^(AS)keeping charge of the sanctuary, ^(AT)to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but ^(AU)the outsider who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹^(AV)All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.

Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn

⁴⁰Then the Lord said to Moses: ^(AW)“Number^[g] all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. ⁴¹^(AX)And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

⁴⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁴⁵^(AY)“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. ⁴⁶And for ^(AZ)the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, ^(BA)who are more than the number of the Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take ^(BB)five shekels for each one ^(BC)individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, ^(BD)the shekel of twenty gerahs. ⁴⁸And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons.”

⁴⁹So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, ^(BE)one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹And Moses ^(BF)gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes

Numbers 3:1 Lit. generations
Numbers 3:3 Lit. whose hands he filled
Numbers 3:9 Sam., LXX Me
Numbers 3:16 Lit. mouth
Numbers 3:28 Some LXX mss. three
Numbers 3:28 taking care of
Numbers 3:40 Take a census of

Numbers 3

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 3

Aaron’s Offspring.^[a] ¹These are the descendants of Aaron and Moses on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: the oldest was Nadab, and then there were Abihu and Eleazar and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed and consecrated to minister in the priesthood. ⁴Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unclean fire to the Lord in the Sinai Desert. They had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of their father Aaron.

The Tribe of Levi. ⁵The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Gather the tribe of Levi and have them stand before Aaron the priest so that they can minister to him. ⁷They will serve him and serve the whole assembly standing before the tent of meeting, ministering to the needs of the tabernacle. ⁸They will take care of all of the furnishings of the tent of meeting and attend to the needs of the people of Israel as they minister in the tabernacle. ⁹You will give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are dedicated to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰You will appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will serve as priests. Anyone else who draws near is to be put to death.”

¹¹^[b]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel as a substitute for the firstborn of the people of Israel, those who opened the womb. The Levites will be my own, ¹³for every firstborn has belonged to me from the day that I slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. I have set apart all the firstborn as my own in Israel, both human and animal. They will be mine. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴Counting the Levites. The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, saying, ¹⁵“Count the sons of Levi by clan, by family. Count every male one month old and older.”

¹⁶So Moses counted them, as the word of the Lord had commanded^[c] him. ¹⁷These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.^[d] ¹⁸These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹The sons of Kohath by their families were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰The sons of Merari by the families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their clan.

²¹From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites. ²²They counted them, all males one month old and older, and they numbered seven thousand, five hundred. ²³The clan of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle to the west. ²⁴Eliasaph, the son of Lael, was the leader of the clan of the Gershonites. ²⁵In the tent of meeting the sons of Gershon had responsibility for the care of the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶the curtains for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, its cords, and everything that had to be done with these.

²⁷From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸They counted them, all males one month old and older, and they numbered eight thousand, three hundred, ministering to the needs of the sanctuary. ²⁹The clan of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, was the leader of the clan of the Kohathites. ³¹Their responsibility was for the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary, the screen, and everything that had to be done with these.

³²Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was to be the supervisor of the leaders of the Levites. He was to oversee those who had the responsibility to care for the needs of the sanctuary.

³³From Merari came the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴They counted them, all males one month old and older, and they numbered six thousand, two hundred. ³⁵Zuriel, the son of Abihail, was the leader of the clan of Merari. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶Their responsibility was for the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, its pillars, its sockets and all of their parts, ³⁷the pillars around the courtyard, and their pins, and their cords.

³⁸Finally, Moses, Aaron and his sons camped in front of the tabernacle on its east side, in front of the tent of meeting and eastward. They kept watch over the sanctuary, keeping the people of Israel and any other person from coming near, under penalty of death.

³⁹The total number of the Levites who were counted by Moses and Aaron at the command of the Lord, everyone in their families who was one month old and older, was twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰Redemption of the Firstborn. The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, those one month old and older, and make a list of their names. ⁴¹The Levites will be a substitute for me in place of the firstborn of the people of Israel. I am the Lord. The cattle of the Levites will be a substitute for the firstborn of the cattle of the people of Israel.”

⁴²Moses counted all of the firstborn of the people of Israel as the Lord had commanded him ⁴³and he listed all the firstborn males by name, those one month old and older. They numbered twenty-two thousand, two hundred seventy-three.

⁴⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵“Take the Levites as a substitute for all the firstborn of the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites as a substitute for their cattle. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord.”

⁴⁶Those who were to be redeemed among the firstborn of the people of Israel, not counting the Levites, numbered two hundred seventy-three. ⁴⁷“You will take five shekels for each person according to the shekel of the sanctuary, that is, twenty gerahs for each shekel ⁴⁸and give the money to Aaron and his sons to redeem those who are in excess among them.”

⁴⁹Moses took the redemption money for those who were in excess, above the number of those redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰He received the money for the firstborn of the people of Israel, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons as the Lord had commanded Moses by the word of the Lord.

Footnotes

Numbers 3:1 In the tribe of Levi, which is to be at the spiritual service of the community, a distinction exists between the priests, whose office it is to offer sacrifice, and the “Levites,” who are to provide material services. Historically, however, this distinction dates only from the time of King Josiah (640–609 B.C.) and would become definitive only after the return from the Exile.
Numbers 3:11 The Levites, being consecrated to the service of God, take the place of the firstborn of the entire people, those who have belonged to God ever since the Passover when the people were delivered from Egypt and the destroying angel spared their firstborn from slaughter (Ex 12:23).
Numbers 3:16 As the word of the Lord had commanded: Moses’ commitment to the Lord is firm and without exception.
Numbers 3:17 See Ex 6:16-25. By omitting mention of Aaron and his family, the editor, a priest, means to underscore the superiority of the priests, who are not to be numbered among the simple Levites.